Old Dominion (16-15, 5-7 Sun Belt) at No. 9 East Carolina (23-7, 6-3 American)
Game Location – Clark-LeClair Stadium (Greenville, N.C.)
Start Time – Wednesday, April 10 at 6 p.m.
Watch – ESPN+
Listen – Fox Sports Radio 1310
Live Stats – Click Here
NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion Baseball meets No. 9 East Carolina for the second time this season as the Monarchs head to Greenville, North Carolina on Wednesday for a 6 p.m. game at Clark-LeClair Stadium.
The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and fans can also hear Andy Mashaw on Fox Sports Radio 1310. Live stats will also be available.
Around the Horn
The Monarchs (16-15, 5-7 Sun Belt) were in Conway, South Carolina this past weekend for a Sun Belt series with No. 20 Coastal Carolina. After dropping the opener 9-2 on Friday, ODU's offense broke out for a convincing 15-4 win on Saturday to even the series. The team set new season highs in runs scored, hits (19) and home runs (6). Sunday's rubber match went to the Chanticleers, though, as ODU fell 10-0 in eight innings. The Monarchs are listed 56th in the latest RPI rankings.
For the second straight week, Luke Waters was named to the Sun Belt Podcast's Starting Nine on Tuesday after hitting .364 (4-for-11) with a home run, a double, three RBIs, two runs and a .727 slugging percentage against CCU. He currently leads the team with a .333 average and is fourth in the conference with 15 stolen bases and 0.48 stolen bases per game. Steven Meier has the next-best batting average at .279 and is a perfect 18-for-18 when attempting to steal. He currently ranks 16th nationally in steals and 30th in steals per game (0.58). Kyle Edwards enters Wednesday's game hitting .263 and Alex Bouche is close behind him at .260. The Monarchs are hitting .238 as a team with a .379 slugging percentage and a .338 on-base percentage.
Freshman right hander Nick Sulpizio (0-0, 10.00 ERA) will get the start against the Pirates in what will be a staff day for ODU. Through games played on April 8, the Monarchs rank 14th in the country in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.84), 20th in walks allowed per nine innings (3.44), and 21st in WHIP (1.31). The team is also second in the SBC with a 4.36 ERA. Opposing teams are batting .242 against ODU pitchers.
Scouting East Carolina
The Pirates (23-7, 6-3 American) won two of three games at Florida Atlantic over the weekend. ECU defeated the Owls 4-1 on Friday, but dropped a close game on Saturday, 6-5. The team then rallied for an early three-run deficit with eight unanswered runs on Sunday and held on for an 8-6 final. East Carolina has two midweek games this week as the Pirates host Elon on Tuesday night before hosting ODU on Wednesday.
ECU is ranked ninth by D1 Baseball, 10th by the NCBWA, 11th in the USA Today Coaches' Poll, and 12th by Baseball America. The Pirates are also eighth in the most recent RPI rankings.
East Carolina has four players hitting over .300: Carter Cunningham leads the way with a .400 average, Ryan McCrystal is second at .361, Jacob Jenkins-Cowart is batting .352, and Bristol Carter owns a .326 average. Cunningham also has the team highs in runs scored (37), RBIs (35) and home runs (7). Jenkins-Cowart has driven in 32 runs and scored 28 times while Ryley Johnson (.294) has 32 runs, has walked 22 times and is the top threat to steal with 15 swiped bags on 17 attempts. As a team, the Pirates are batting .297 with a .437 slugging percentage and a .386 on-base percentage.
ECU also has a strong pitching staff. The team ranks third nationally in hits allowed per nine innings (6.82) and WHIP (1.12), fifth in ERA (3.43) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.30), 12th in strikeouts per nine innings (10.8), and 13th in shutouts (3) and walks allowed per nine innings (3.29). Wednesday will also be a staff day for the Pirates, who named left hander Corey Costello (0-0, 27.00 ERA) as their starter.
The Series
The Monarchs hosted the first meeting with the Pirates this season back on Feb. 27. With one out in the bottom of the ninth, Meier hit a walk-off home run to left to give ODU a 6-5 victory over then-No. 11 ECU. It was his second long ball of the game after he hit a solo shot to right field in the third inning.
ODU has a slight lead in the all-time series, 36-32.
Up Next
ODU will be back at Bud Metheny Ballpark this weekend for a Royal Rivalry series versus James Madison. The Monarchs and Dukes will start off with a 6 p.m. game on Friday. Saturday's game has been pushed back to a 4 p.m. start so that fans can attend both the ODU Spring Football game at 2 p.m. as well as the baseball game, and Sunday's series finale will begin at 1 p.m.
Baseball Wraps Up Five-Game Road Swing at No. 9 ECU on Wednesday
